Stepladder



0. W. BROWN, JR.

STEPLADDER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 18, 1919.

Patented July 6, 1920..

2 SHEETS-SHQET I.

ATTORNEYS O. W. BROWN, JR.

STEPLADDER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 18, I919.

Patented July 6 2 SHEETSSHEEI' 2.

0mm mzoiw, 11;

By ATTORNEYS ORLANDO W. BROWN, JR., OF SANFORD, MAINE.

S-TEPLADDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 6, 1920.

Application filed December 18, 1919. Serial No. 345,836.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORLANDO W. BROWN, Jr., a citizen of the United States, and a resident ofSanford, in the county of York and State of Maine, have invented anew and Improved Stepladder, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in stepladders, an object of the invention being to provide a stepladder having rear or supporting legs which can be flared apart at their lower ends to give added support to the ladder andwhich will be securely held in this position.

A further object is to provide a collapsible or folding stepladder which is made of steel or other suitable metal, which can be conveniently folded or collapsed, and which can be secured in expanded form to securely and rigidly support the ladder in operative position.

#Vith these and other objects in view the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, and combinations and arrangements of parts as will be more fully hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims. 7

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a view in rear elevation illustrating my improved stepladder in operative position, the dashed lines indicating the position of the parts when folded.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the upper transverse brace 18;

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view in section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a view in elevation illustrating the connection of the braces of the rear legs;

Fig. 7 is a view in section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a view in section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged View in section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 2;

V Fig. 10 is an enlarged View in section on the line 1010 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view partly in elevation and partly in section illustrating proved stepladder.

form 8 also preferably of wood is secured upon the bars 5 and supporting or rear legs 9 are pivotally connected at their upper ends to the bars 5 and this pivotal connection is a sufficiently loose one to permit of pivotal movement of the legs and also slight lateral movement of the legs to allow for the spreading of the lower ends of the legs apart, as will fully hereinafter appear. The rear legs 9 are tubular in form and longitudinally slotted with parallel webs 10 projecting from the tubular portion of the legs at opposite sides of the slots therein, so that the legs form, in effect, longitudinal grooves to accommodate the parts which will be hereinafter described.

A curved brace 11 consisting of two curved bars 11 and 11" is secured at its ends to the legs 9 and a convenient manner of connect ing the members 11 and 11 to the legs is shown in Figs. 1]. and 12. The ends of the bars are bent in angular form and projected between the webs 10, 10, and secured by means of a rivet 12. The ends of the bars 11 and 11 constitute stops or shoulders which limit the downward pivotal movement of brace links 13. These brace links are pivotally connected at one end to the legs 1, as shown at 14, and at their rear ends are curved slightly downwardly and provided with knobs or enlargements 15 at their free ends which move in the tubular portions of the legs 9 with the links extending between the webs 10. It will thus be noted that the links 13 at their enlarged ends 15 can be swung upwardly moving in the tubular legs 9 whenit is desired to collapse the ladder or draw the legs together,

pansion of the brace.

A pair of oppositely positioned angular braces 16 have their respective ends securedbetween the webs 10 of the legs 9. The upper ends of these braces 16 are near the upper ends of the legs and the lower ends of the braces are adjacent the lower ends of the legs, while theintermediate portlons of the braces overlap, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 6, and are located in rear of the curved brace 11. The braces 16 have yokes 17 secured thereto and the two members 11 and 11 of the brace 11 are accommodated in these yokes 17. One of the yokes is secured to one of the bars 11 and the other yoke to the other bar 11 so that when the legs 9 are expanded, the lateral movement of the braces 16 will cause a telescoping action of the members of the brace 11 to compensate for this movement of the legs.

A horizontal brace 18 is secured at its ends to the braces 16 adjacent the upper ends of the ladder and this brace 18 also constitutes two'members 18 and 18 with the overlapping ends of said members projected through aslotted coupling yoke 19 and having their extreme ends bent at anwhich limit the ex- The brace 18 also supports a pivoted platform 21 which is angle forming steps 20 provided with circular openings 22 receiving the brace 18, and is made with extensions 23 which engage under one of the steps to hold the platform in horizontal position yet permit the platform to be folded upwardly when not desired for use.

By reason of the construction above described, the lower ends of the legs '9 can be moved toward or away from each other to expand or contract the rear support formed by. said legs. In other words,the lower ends of thelegs 9 .can be moved outwardly, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the legs assume an inclined position, and the lower ends of the legs have an extended bearing which prevents lateral movement of the ladder and affords an extremely secure support for a person on the ladder. When the legs are moved toward each other to con tract the ladder, this movement'is compensated for by the braces 11 and 18 with their telescoping or sliding members, and the outward movement of the legs is limited by the shoulders 20 of the brace 18 and would also be limited by thev engagement of the intermediate portions of th'ebraces 16 with each other'as the yokes 17 on these braces are in the same horizontal plane and would cause a binding action of the braces 16 against each other to limit the spreading movement ofthe legs. 1

Various slight changes may be made in steps on the front legs, rearwardly projectirfg bars secured to the upper ends of the front legs, rear legs pivotally connected to the bars, means connecting the rear legs and permitting lateral movement of the lowerends of the legs, said rear legs of tubular longitudinally slotted'form'ation, links pivotally connected to the front legs, andenlargements on the ends of the links movable in the tubular rear legs.

2. A stepladder, comprising front legs, steps on the front legs, rearwardly projecting bars secured to the upper ends of the front legs, rear legs pivotally connected to the bars, sliding braces connecting the rear legs and permitting lateral movement of the lower ends of the rear legs, said rear legs of tubular longitudinally slotted formation, links pivotally connected to the front legs, enlargements on the ends of the links movable in the tubular rear legs, and means for limiting the downward movement of the 'linksvin'the rear legs. l V

3'. A stepladder, comprising front legs, steps on the front legs, rearwardlyprojecting bars secured to the upper ends of the front legs, rear legs pivotally connected t0 the bars, angular braces secured at their .ends to the rear legs and at their intermediate portions overlapping each other, a brace bar comprising. two sections, the respective sections secured to the rear legs, and theintermediate portions of said firstmentioned braces secured respectively to the members of the lastmentioned'brace bar.

1. A stepladder, comprising front legs, steps on the front legs, rearwardly projecting bars secured to the upper ends of the front legs, rear legs pivotally connected to the bars, angular braces secured at their ends to the rear legs and at their intermediate portions overlapping, a curved brace ends to the rear legs and at their interme- 12 diate portions overlapping, a curved brace tioned members and limiting their sliding bar consisting of two members, the respecmovement relative to each other, a platform tive members secured to the legs and to the pivotally supported on said last-mentioned 10 intermediate portions of the first-mentioned brace bars, and extensions on the platform 5 brace bars, a second brace bar connecting the adapted to engage a step to support the platfirst-mentioned braces and consisting of two form in horizontal position. members, a yoke connecting the last-men- ORLANDO W. BROWN, JR. 

